While the local Realtors Association has not released the official real estate statistics for Maui for the month of March, I had a few minutes today to come up with some unofficial stats for the island.
There were 95 homes sold throughout Maui County in March of 2008. This is up from the 76 homes sold in February of this year, but down from the total of 131 sold during March of last year. Median sales price was $620,000. This was down slightly from last year’s number of $625,000.
There were 92 condos sold throughout Maui County in March of 2008. This number is down a little from the 94 sold in February and the 95 that were sold in March of 2007. The median sales price for condos came in $538,500. This was above the 2007 median of $469,500. The sharp increase in medians is not necessarily an indication of significant price increases as much as it is the type of inventory sold during the month. Median condo sales prices tend to swing pretty drastically.
Land sales were slow in March of 2008 with only 9 properties sold through out the county. This is down from 23 in February of 2008 and 17 units sold in March of 2007. The February numbers were actually a spike above recent trends on island. Land transactions have been relatively slow as inventory pricing has not adjusted to reduced market demand.
As always, it is worth giving the disclaimer that Maui Real Estate statistics should be viewed and interpreted with some measure of caution. Our smaller sample size can lead to pretty wild fluctuations. That being said, there are a couple things that can be gleaned from the stats. We are by no means a dead market. Island transactions are off from 2007 levels and previous boom years. However, we are still seeing a pretty good volume of transactions. Our market has been buoyed by the weak U.S. dollar as International buyers and Canadians in particular are taking advantage of the strength of their currency. That being said, sellers need to price their properties well as buyers are being more selective looking for properties that show better value.
I will post a link to formal statistics when they are published by the local Realtor association. Please feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions about the Maui Real Estate market.
